TiVo Community Forum Archive 1 (http://archive.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/index.php)
- TiVo Coffee House - TiVo Discussion (http://archive.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=3)
-- Recording One, Watching Another (yes, I read the FAQ) (http://archive.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?threadid=79273)

Recording One, Watching Another (yes, I read the FAQ)

Fellas and Ladies,

This is a great community you have here. I've learned alot reading through everything. However, one thing is still unclear...

Is it at all possible to tape one show while watching another?

I know you can do it with Replay TV, but I can't figure out how it would work with Tivo.

I did read the FAQ, but I was hoping for the "Recording for Absolute Dummies" version. I have the 60 hr. series 2 hardware.
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I'm brand new at Tivo, and so far I haven't seen many advantages over a VCR, except not having to use tapes, which might be worth the money in itself

But, if you have to watch whatever you are taping, whats the big advantage? Its only good for taping things while you are at work. Sure, the rewinding is cool but not neccessary.

Hopefully I'll pick up a few tips from these forums. Thanks in advance,

Q

With any TiVo you may watch a previously recorded program while taping a live program. Additionally, only with a DirecTiVo (supplied with two satellite feeds) unit may watch one live program while taping a different live program, also you could watch a previously recorded show while taping two separate live shows all at the same time.

__________________
Jack --Indianapolis--

Proud owner of:
DirecTV HR 10-250 powered by TiVo
Sony DirecTiVo 108hrs
Sony DirecTiVo Unmodified
TiVo owner since 09-99
DirecTv owner since 09-94

A stand alone TiVo connects just like Replay. You can watch an existing recording while it's recording another program.

A stand alone TiVo conects just like a VCR, without the above feature.

If you want to watch live while recording, split cable signal. If you have a box, split before the box to TiVo and TV. You can only view analog channels live on the TV while recording if you have TiVo connected to the cable box output.

All this is in the FAQ's and the TiVo setup guide.

If you think the only benefit of TiVo over VCR is "It's only good for taping things while you are at work. Sure, the rewinding is cool but not neccessary..." then why did you buy it the first place?

Don't you know what Season Passes and Wishlists are?

__________________
HDVR2 35 Hrs. -> 212 Hrs. with TwinBreeze™
TiVo Series 2 60 Hrs. -> 223 Hrs.
SVR-2000 - stock
Best Universal Remote (for the money - $18): OFA URC-6131

yes, I've set up my season passes and wishlists. I have it taping Law and Order at 1:00 every day while I'm at work. I also have it checking for Kari Wuhrer movies (grrrrrrrrrrr).

There are some advantages, of course. But quite honestly so far I don't think its worth the 400 bucks for the receiver plus another 250 for service. Not being able to watch live TV while I record something has just gotten me quite turned off.

I'm going to have to try to split the cable to see if that works, but I don't get how that would work without some kind of switch.

It's kind of pointless to have to be watching something that you are recording. It's not often that I want to tape something if I'm already watching it , which means that I get the most out of Tivo when I'm at work.

So far the bigggest advantage is not having to use tapes. If I want to record 3 programs, I dont have to worry about using Super Long Play and sacrificing quality.

Wait, what about using standby? I have a cable box so it won't work for me, but can't people that have a direct feed into the tivo put the tivo on standby and watch live tv while tivo is recording something else? Try doing a search in this forum for standby or it might be in the FAQ.

You will realize the benefit once you use it more.

__________________
cruelest dream reality

quote:

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Originally posted by Qrashman
It's kind of pointless to have to be watching something that you are recording.

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__________________
Dave Hicks
(Now only 31 years until I'm allowed to be opinionated!)

I don't understand your confusion. It's all covered in the FAQ's and also in the setup guide. Yes you can use standby if you feed the analog signal through TiVo to your TV.

Otherwise look at this diagram:

http://www.electrophobia.com/tivo/#tivo-av_tv

If you don't have a cable box, just connect RF directly to TiVo.

__________________
HDVR2 35 Hrs. -> 212 Hrs. with TwinBreeze™
TiVo Series 2 60 Hrs. -> 223 Hrs.
SVR-2000 - stock
Best Universal Remote (for the money - $18): OFA URC-6131

quote:

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Originally posted by Qrashman
It's kind of pointless to have to be watching something that you are recording.

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I think the point your missing here is that most of us TIVO owners here do not watch live TV too often. Eventually you will build up lots of shows in TIVO so you can watch a show from the Now Playing section while TIVO records your other shows. That way you can fast forward thru commercials. You mentioned watching what it is recording which begs the question...if you want to watch it live why record? Watch other stuff on TIVO while it records. Or just split the cable in to the TV and watch something else live if you must.

I agree about watching live - sometimes, however, a recording conflict requires it, and IT CAN BE DONE!*

*With limitations using a cable box.

__________________
HDVR2 35 Hrs. -> 212 Hrs. with TwinBreeze™
TiVo Series 2 60 Hrs. -> 223 Hrs.
SVR-2000 - stock
Best Universal Remote (for the money - $18): OFA URC-6131

The only channel I watch is KTN. [K Tivo Network] About 1½ years ago before I had one I though why would you want a tape less VCR.

Good luck Tivoing....

__________________
[07-19-01] Philips HDR212 - 45 Hrs*
[03-06-02] Philips DSR6000 - 35 Hrs
[05-25-02] Sony SAT-T60 - 67 Hrs
[12-04-02] AT&T 2 - 41 Hrs*
[12-11-02] Sony SAT-T60 - 67 Hrs
[05-14-03] Hughes HDVR2 - 35 Hrs
[04-05-04] ReplayTV - 40 Hrs*

* - These units are sitting in the closet.


DVD Collection - here

Hey Qrashman, welcome to the Tivolution.

The problem you are running into is that watching TiVo is a paradigm shift from watching live TV. For some people it does take some getting used to.

You say: "It's kind of pointless to have to be watching something that you are recording. It's not often that I want to tape something if I'm already watching it , which means that I get the most out of Tivo when I'm at work."

How about watching what you previously recorded while Tivo is recording something else? This you cannot do with a VCR. Many of us who have Tivo's simply do not watch live TV anymore. We Tivo everything.

Now if the problem is that there are two shows on at the same time, and you want to record one and watch the other, things are more complicated. You don't say whether your have cable or satellite. With satellite, you would have a DirecTivo box which can record two things at once. With cable, you are limited by the fact that your cable box only feeds one channel to the Tivo, so the Tivo has no way to let you watch live TV while it records something else.

You can probably split your cable signal *before* it goes to the cable box and plug it into your cable-ready TV. This lets the Tivo use the cable box as a tuner, and you can use your TV's tuner to watch live TV. This would mean that you use your TV set to change channels, instead of the cable box, for watching live TV. Tivo would use the cable box to change channels.

Tell us some more about what your current setup looks like and I'm sure people here will be able to help you out. Do you have cable or satellite? Is your TV cable-ready? Do you have a regular/analog cable box or a digital one, or none at all? Which Tivo do you have?

I'm a new TiVo owner (as of this past weekend) and have already begun to watch television on my schedule. With a nasty commute for work and a class in the evenings, it's more out of necessity. I have a dozen season passes and numerous episodes of Law & Order in my to-do list. However, it still blows my mind that the TiVo doesn't have 2 tuners.

First and foremost, it would make justification of the purchase to my wife easier ("What do you mean we can't watch something else while it's recording?"). To counter the immediate response, cable-splitting would be a reasonable argument... if the TiVo did the splitting and it was a matter of hitting "Input" on the TiVo remote.

Second, two tuners would make short work of conflicting season passes (CSI vs. Will & Grace... again the important wife factor). My remote has a switch for controlling a second TiVo. Why not have a cable from one to the other for communication and a chained RF line. The first box could hold all of the scheduling info, with the second box being a dummy that receives direct commands from the first. I'd be more than willing to purchase another box (though I'd be hard-pressed to pay for service on the second).

Last, I'm new, but don't hesitate to flame me if I missed something obvious or failed to read a section in the manual.

You don't have to split- if your coax goes straight into the Tivo then off to the TV, simply put the Tivo unit in standby and watch live TV. I do this regularly when it wants to record something and I want to watch the baseball playoffs of a football game. Its simple and a solution without having to do a splitter.

quote:

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Originally posted by Gruneun
I'm a new TiVo owner (as of this past weekend) and have already begun to watch television on my schedule. With a nasty commute for work and a class in the evenings, it's more out of necessity. I have a dozen season passes and numerous episodes of Law & Order in my to-do list. However, it still blows my mind that the TiVo doesn't have 2 tuners.

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quote:

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Originally posted by IJustLikeTivo


The reason Directivos have 2 tuners is the same reason why UTV had them. All they are is DTV Receivers. The encoding is done before transmission. All the box does is record the digital bit stream.

I have both and Dtivo rocks. BTW, where in Fredneck do you live? I fly up around there a lot. If you hear a Piper, it might be me.....

IJLT

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quote:

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Originally posted by Gruneun


Interesting point about DTV only recording, not encoding. Still, I'd like to see some "smart" chaining of multiple TiVo (TiVi? Do we have a plural form of TiVo?).

I'm about a quarter-mile past the community college in the North Crossing development. I won't tell you anymore because I can't have you swooping in to grab my new toy. Any chance you dropped in to the fly-in up in Libertytown a few months ago?

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The only reason for a TiVo owner to watch a show live is that they have to go to sleep right after the show's over, have to get up early to exercise, and need to know what happened for the water-cooler arguments at work later that day.

__________________
"You GO gray!" -- Justapixel
Forget them, Gray...is simply marvelous! -- Ereth
Graymalkin's is still my favorite -- bruab
I know it's been said, many times, many ways, but you're the man, Gray! -- Thaed
Yes, Gray is one hell of a guy. -- Mavenelle

The only thing I watch live is Sports. Even if I'm home at 8:00 and want to watch something that starts at 8:00, I'll watch something else first, so I can watch w/o commercials...

__________________
Jon
DSR6000 (unhacked... for now)

quote:

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Originally posted by IJustLikeTivo


The issue is not really the 2 tuners problem. Tuner chips are cheap and available. The bigger issue is the need to have dual Mpeg encoder circuits.

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